Fry
Green Enchiladas
- Serves 4-5
Author Notes
This is a recipe I learned from some friends from Mexico City. You don't bake these enchiladas. I have the recipe in my head, but I've tried my best to give exact proportions for ingredients. Don't save the sauce for more than a day or two; it tastes best the day you make it, and it will turn fast. Also, you can add as many or as few jalapenos as you would like. If you prefer things not so spicy, cut out all the seeds. Serve enchiladas with homemade frijoles ala ola or refried beans. —Stefani Marroquin
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Green Sauce
-
approximately 15
medium to large firm tomatillos, husks removed, washed, and cut into halves
-
1
large fresh jalapeno, with seeds, stem removed, cut in half
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1
large fresh jalapeno, seeds and stem removed, cut in half
-
1
clove of garlic, cut in half
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1/4
of a medium sized white or yellow onion, coarsely chopped
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2 cups
water or chicken broth
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1 teaspoon
salt
- The fillings and toppings
-
2
ripe avocados, pits removed, peeled and sliced
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3/4
of a medium white or yellow onion, very finely diced
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1
bunch of cilantro, stems removed, coarsely chopped
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2
boneless skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
-
1
jar of Mexican crema (sour cream will work too, but it is better to have the not-sour thinner Mexican kind)
-
1 pound
firm queso fresco, sliced into 1/8" thick pieces
-
12-20
corn tortillas
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4 tablespoons
corn or vegetable oil
Directions
- Green Sauce
- To make the sauce, place half of the tomatillos, one of the jalapenos, half, of the onion, half of the garlic, half of the salt, and half of the water or broth in a blender.
- Blend until smooth, and pour into a 3 quart sauce pan. If you need to add a little extra liquid to get the blender to run, that is fine.
- Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients, and pour this into the sauce pan as well.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, then immediately stir and turn the burner to low. Let the sauce simmer UNCOVERED for approximately 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste.
- The fillings and toppings
- Prepare and chop fillings and toppings while the green sauce is simmering.
- Set up your frying pans: you will need one small frying pan for the tortillas, and one small frying pan for the sauce.
- Once the sauce is reduced and thickened, pour about a cup of it into one of the frying pans. Heat this pan to low. Pour a tablespoon of oil in the other frying pan and heat this pan to medium.
- Take one of the tortillas and fry in the pan with the oil, about 30 seconds each side. You do not want it to get crispy, just slightly toughened. Using a separate utensil, dip the tortilla into the warm sauce in the other frying pan. Fold in half and lay on a plate. Repeat the process with 2 more tortillas.
- Inside each fried and sauce dipped tortilla, put a little of the queso fresco, a little avocado, and a little chicken. Don't overfill the tortillas. Arrange the filled tortillas on a plate overlapping each other, and ladle a bit more of the green sauce from the sauce pan on all of them. Take a teaspoon of the crema, and drizzle across the enchiladas in a streaking motion. Sprinkle with some of the cilantro and diced onion.
- You will need to prepare the enchiladas for each person you are serving. So, it is a lot of standing over a hot stove but worth the effort. Because of the time involved, I would not recommend this dish for a large crowd, although you could just prepare the tortillas dipped in the sauce and keep them warm in the oven until it is time to assemble.
- I love the leftovers for breakfast the next morning. If there is more sauce than tortillas left, you can freeze it and throw it into a pot of chili for extra flavor.
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